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Alfa Pendular

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Alfa Pendular

Alfa Pendular is the name of the flagship Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company Comboios de Portugal.

Since the 1990's it connects the near-coastal and coastal cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira, and Faro, spanning from North to South, at speeds of up to 220 km/h (135 mph).

The trains were assembled in Portugal by ADtranz at the former Sorefame works at Amadora, based on contracting partnership between Fiat-Ferroviaria as the main contractor and ADtranz and Siemens as the main subcontractors.

In 2017, the Alfa train fleet was upgraded with new interiors, livery, seating, and features such as Wi-Fi, plugs and chargers for electronic devices.

The Alfa Pendular high speed train is a six car electric multiple unit (EMU), which is derived from, and closely resembles the Giugiaro designed Italian Fiat-Ferroviaria ETR 480 Pendolino train. The bogies were redesigned to operate on Portugal's 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+2132 in) Iberian gauge specific rails.

There are 8 traction motors, installed on all but the two middle vehicles of the train, developing 4.0 megawatts (5,400 hp). This M-M-T-T-M-M arrangement spreads the weight of the train, giving it a weight of only 13.5 tonnes (13.3 long tons; 14.9 short tons) per axle, which helps its cornering ability at high speed.

During testing, a top speed of 245.6 km/h (152.6 mph) was reached close to Espinho in 1998.

Its tilting train technology, with a maximum tilt angle of 8°, allows the train to navigate curves at higher speeds than conventional trains. The combination of the resulting high cornering velocity and the tilting movement of the carriages helps ensure a comfortable ride for the passengers, although the jostle and sway compensating for track irregularities may cause "motion sickness" in those susceptible. The hydraulic tilting system is governed by two gyroscopes in the head cars. The curve is found on the base of the elevation of the external track.

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